A match with playoff implications took place on Monday evening when Lehighton girls soccer played host to their non-league rival in Tamaqua.

On a night where the Indians recognized their senior members, the evening became extra special for the host club, which rolled to a 4-1 victory.

The Blue Raiders entered holding the eighth seed in District 11 Class 2A, attempting to maintain their hopes of a district playoff berth, while the Indians were looking to move one step closer to locking a playoff spot down in the Class 3A field.

It didn’t take long for Lehighton to get to work offensively and generate numerous scoring chances.

However, it was Tamaqua which struck first just over seven minutes into the contest as Bailey Pliska feathered a pass between two Indian defenders and sent Shaylee Gormley in all alone for a 1-0 lead.

The early goal didn’t hinder the Indians in the slightest, as they returned to maintaining ball possession and generating scoring chances. A breakthrough finally came with just under 15 minutes remaining in the half when freshman Claire Bridy won a battle for the ball off a clearing attempt and fired home the game-tying goal.

It was all Lehighton from that point through the remainder of the half.

With 5:15 left, Hailey Wehr set up Laina Zimmerman to give the Indians the lead. Then with 44 seconds to go, Bridy cut past a Raider defender to the net and wired home her second goal of the match for a 3-1 score going into halftime.

With the absence of senior and leading goal-scorer Sadie Monk, the performance of Bridy has been the driving force for this Indian offense.

“It definitely is a scary role to fill, especially without Sadie, but I’m able to hopefully replace that even with her being gone,” she said. “You’ve just got to go up to the role and try your best, and see what you can do.”

Head coach Carl Wolter recognizes the significance of Bridy’s offensive abilities, but also understands the significance of not having Monk available.

“Claire’s doing an outstanding job, but we definitely miss Sadie Monk,” he said. “Claire was actually getting more production with Sadie here because the focus wasn’t on her as much, so they had to split their defense between Sadie and Claire. So it made it a little bit easier for Claire, but now it’s solely resting on her shoulders up there.”

During the second half, Bridy continued to generate multiple scoring chances not only for herself, but also for her teammates, only for Tamaqua goalkeeper Ceanna Gormley to stand in the way, making 13 saves on the night and keeping her squad in the game.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, they couldn’t solve Lehighton’s defense and eventually succumbed to one final Indian dagger.

Off a corner kick from Avery Bauder, Mylee Luksko got a header on the ball to beat Gormley and add to her team’s lead. On a night where the team’s seniors were celebrated, it was only fitting that two seniors connected on the final goal of the game to seal the 4-1 victory for Lehighton.

For the Blue Raiders, head coach Clem McCarroll liked his team’s effort considering how young they are, but also knows that district playoffs are still a possibility despite the obstacles.

“We got off to a fast start which we were happy with, but then we just didn’t possess the ball,” he said. “We’re a super young team with a lot of growing pains this season. We usually play nine freshmen, so it’s just learning the game and possessing the ball a little bit.

“But there are some winnable games in the rest of the schedule. They’re so young that we just tell them one game at a time. Don’t look at who we’re playing like three games down the road. They just have to play who’s in front of them.”

On the other side, the Indians now need just one more win to secure a district playoff berth, but coach Wolter has higher expectations for his team.

“We’re always in the hunt for districts,” he said. “The big thing with this year was that we knew we wanted to get to district playoffs, but we’re also concerned about our seed, and we also want to make league playoffs. So right now our goal is obviously to get that next win to go to districts, but our real goal is we want to get to the league playoffs.”

SENIOR SENDOFF … Lehighton honored the six seniors on its team — Avery Bauder, Sadie Monk, Layla Muth-Meek, Mylee Lutsko, Leah Uyvari and Morgan Myers — during pregame festivities. Coach Wolter described the night like he’s “losing six daughters” from his family.

THE ROAD AHEAD … Both teams hit the road as Lehighton travels to Pen Argyl on Saturday, while Tamaqua continues its four-game road trip today at Blue Mountain.

Lehighton 4, Tamaqua 1

Tamaqua 1 0 - 1

Lehighton 3 1 - 4

Goals: Tamaqua - Shaylee Gormley 1; Lehighton - Claire Bridy 2, Laina Zimmerman 1, Mylee Lutsko 1; Assists: Tamaqua - Bailey Pliska 1; Lehighton - Hailey Wehr 1, Avery Bauder 1; Shots: Tamaqua 5; Lehighton 27; Saves: Tamaqua - Ceanna Gormley 13; Lehighton - Cassidy Litts 0; Corners: Tamaqua 3; Lehighton 7.

Records: Tamaqua (5-7); Lehighton (8-6).